Stables - The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre

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TheStables

September to December 2014

London Assurance My Boy Jack The Railway Children

PLUS

Collaboration

Female Gothic

The Turn of the Screw

Ernest Shackleton

A Medieval Christmas

Peter Knight’s Gigspanner

Sponsored by

Battle Abbey

School

Established 1912 the

Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

Bookings, membership, parking and access

Box office: 01424 423221

Mon to Fri: 10.30am to 2pm; 6pm to 8pm. Sat: 10.30am to

2pm; also open prior to performances. See website for full details and online bookings: www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Payment options

Cash, cheque (payable to The Stables Trust Ltd), all major credit and debit cards and Stables gift tokens.

Ticket collection and postage

Tickets may be collected from the box office in advance or just before the performance. Please add £1 or enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you would like tickets posted to you.

Refunds and resales

Please check the details on your tickets when you receive them.

We cannot refund tickets but exchanges are sometimes possible.

Tickets accepted for resale only when all other tickets are sold.

Group bookings

Group booking prices apply to groups of five or more including a member and booking together for the same performance.

Membership

Membership costs £10 for your first year paying by Direct Debit, and £15 in subsequent years. Members enjoy a £5 discount on most shows. Please ask at the box office for full details.

Parking

The theatre has a small car park, which is free to patrons attending the theatre. To avoid a parking charge, please register your vehicle details in the parking book in the foyer on arrival.

There is a public car park on the Bourne and on-street parking, to which regulations apply.

Disability access

Rows A and B are reserved for disabled people (with mobility, visual or hearing impairments) and their helpers. There are spaces for wheelchair users in row A, which can be accessed without any stairs. There are two steps up to row

B. There is a wheelchair-accessible toilet on the ground floor.

Platform lifts, for a wheelchair user or one seated person, enable access to the first-floor bar.

How to find us

Old London

Road

Stables Theatre

St Mary

Star of the Sea

Church

P

St Clements

Church

George Street

Seafront (A259)

All Saints

Church

Rock-a-Nore Road

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J

M

L

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N 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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B

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Stage

The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre, The Bourne, Hastings TN34 3BD. Tel 01424 423221. www.stablestheatre.co.uk

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StageWrite the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

Chairman’s column

I write this column at the height of a July heatwave but you will be reading this in the late summer or even autumn – time and deadlines work like that, past, present and future intermingling.

Such philosophical musings are natural having seen a series of thought-provoking plays at the

Stables in recent months, attended a wonderful performance of Amadeus at

Chichester which brought back memories of our production in 1986, and preparing with a small group of actors for a reading of First World War poetry which will be performed as part of Hastings Borough Council’s commemoration of the outbreak of war on August 4.

In my last column I drew attention to the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers in the renewal of our building.

This time I want to focus on the unsung heroes who make the Stables work. So thank you to the team who made our celebration of Pirates Day on July 20 so successful. To Anne

Edwards and her indefatigable organisation of our Boot

Sales as well as her dedicated service as production secretary; to Mike Lushington who is retiring as bar chairman having presided over a wonderful transformation of this hub of the theatre; to Andy Bissenden, Veronica

Sceall and Harriet Davey who, on a daily basis, manage our

IT systems and database. In addition, thanks to Jo Flay who in the last two years has transformed our use of Facebook and other social media; to Cliff Brooker and Peter Mould who produce our outstanding publicity material; to our backstage and technical teams; and to our gardeners and housekeepers who ensure that this lovely theatre always looks at its best. Thanks, too, to all of our other volunteers who give of their time for no reward save the pleasure of giving back something to their community and the satisfaction of a job well done.

On the same theme we should thank the members of this year’s Programme Advisory Group who, since last

November, have been working hard to plan our 2015 programme which is listed overleaf. In particular thanks to

Michael Boakes who, after three years, is stepping down as a member of the group of which for the last two years he has been coordinator.

It is very easy to make ill-informed criticism of the plays chosen, but the amount of thought, discussion and reading that goes into the final mix is quite extraordinary. To produce a season of ten plays means sifting through an original pot of around 100 titles. This process is based on certain principles namely:

• The artistic policy of the Stables Theatre – excellence and diversity

• The ideas of existing directors and the encouragement of new directors

• The views of the wider membership of the theatre

• The budgetary constraints set by the council of management and the commercial viability of the season

• The capabilities and resources of the stage, technical and wardrobe teams

• The availability of plays for amateur performance

• Consideration of any outside events which could impact on the season (negatively or positively), or should be marked – such as the centenary of the First World War, the bicentenary of the birth of Dickens or the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016

• Consideration of amending the length of run of particular plays – as we already do at Christmas.

So it is not surprising that the process takes time, many meetings and will probably disappoint some. We aim for a programme which is balanced, feasible, will make an overall profit and includes plays which appeal to audiences and actors alike.

I make no apology for once again quoting Jonathan Church,

Artistic Director of The Chichester Festival Theatre, in explaining his theatre’s success: “In the words of Olivier, you do three productions for the audience and one for yourself.”

Finally, we are always on the lookout for active volunteers to ensure that, as our mission statement says, we “leave an artistic, social and financial legacy for the benefit of generations that will follow in the life of the Stables

Theatre”. No area of this theatre is off-limits to anyone who wants to be actively and positively involved. So if you want to be part of what we do – including planning our programme for 2016 – please get in contact. You will be warmly welcomed.

Chris Lacey

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StageWrite the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

The Stables Theatre programme for 2015

Playing dates Production

Feb 6-14

Mar 13-21

The Ladykillers

Jumpy

Apr 10-18

May 8 -16

Dinner Ladies

Anne Boleyn

Author

Graham Linehan

April de Angelis

Victoria Wood

Howard Brenton

May 29-Jun 6 Murder by Misadventure Edward Taylor

Jun 26-Jul 4 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Jul 17-25 TBA

Tennessee Williams

TBA

Aug 7-15

Sep 2-5

Steel Magnolias

Stables Youth Theatre

Robert Harling

TBA

Director

Chris Lacey

Maureen Nelson

Paula Croft/Marcus Croft

Michael Boakes

Carol Hunt

M.J. Renzi (American exchange prog)

TBA

Julie Tucker-Williams

Maureen Nelson/Niall Whitehead

Sep 14-19 Fringe Festival Various Coordinated by Heather Alexander

Sep 30-Oct 3 ’Allo ’Allo!

Oct 15-24

David Croft & Jeremy Lloyd

Victorian Project: Cox and Box /A Game of Speculation

A Sedlescombe Players show

Tim Wormley-Healing/Shannon Smith

Nov 13-21

Dec 15-30

Noises Off

Aladdin

Michael Frayn

Tony Holtham/Pauline Ash

Tara Buchanan

Tony Holtham/Pauline Ash

Auditions

Sun 5 Oct

Sun 12 Oct

Sun 19 Oct

Sun 9 Nov

TBA

N/A

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

N/A

TBA

TBA

TBA

Quiz Night: September 12

Quizmaster Vernon

Phillips presents another popular Stables Quiz

Night on Friday 12

September 2014 at

7.30pm (bar opens 7pm)

Invite your friends and make up a team (max eight) for an evening of fun and great prizes to help raise funds for the Stables Theatre

Chicago Heights 2015 exchange programme.

Number of entries restricted to 80 so speak to the box office today or telephone

01424 423221 to make sure of your place.

A great night out

For a really great night out, treat yourself to a pre-show supper in one of the many wonderful wine bars, seafood restaurants, steak bars, brasseries and gastropubs in and around Hastings Old Town before coming to enjoy a wonderful show.

Stables five year plan: be part of it

We’re developing a plan to look at all aspects of the life of the Stables Theatre over the next five years. We know what has worked well in the past so we have the “skeleton”, but now want members to give us their thoughts to help us flesh out that skeleton. Please join us on Saturday 27 September at 11am to hear our ideas – and put forward your own.

Ron Hustwayte and Tim Pearce .

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StageWrite the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

London Assurance

Opens Thursday 16 Oct

To those who know and love

London Assurance , its virtual disappearance from the stage for some 70 years is a complete mystery.

Perhaps the problem is its title. What does it tell us about the play? There’s not much of a clue.

Blame the management who first presented the play, Mme Vestris and her husband Charles Matthews who presided over the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on the site of the present Royal Opera House. The couple came upon the play almost by mistake when a hopeful 20-year-old,

Dion Boucicault, left the script at the stage door. He called back weekly to no avail, until one day a rather deaf doorkeeper mistook his name and showed him in. The ensuing scene of mutual miscomprehension must have been worthy of London Assurance itself. But the play got a reading. It was acquired for the 1841 Spring season.

We’ll never know how much tweaking and rewriting went on during the rehearsal period by a cast who were used to working together and had their own favourite jokes, specialities and tricks – and even possibly bestowed a few refinements. Mme Vestris – who was in fact perfectly

English – played Grace; while her husband, a celebrated comic actor, appropriated the role of Dazzle. He it was who gave the play its title, enshrined in the final lines.

Boucicault was, like most great English comic dramatists, an Irishman, in that long line that stretches from Farquhar and Congreve, through Goldsmith and Sheridan to Shaw,

Wilde and beyond. Indeed, London Assurance consciously looks back to the town vs country theme of She Stoops to

Conquer , giving it its own special twist. At Oak Hall,

Gloucestershire, “London Assurance” gets its comeuppance!

Given its history, it is no surprise that when the RSC resurrected it in 1970, London Assurance needed a re-write. Others have followed. We present Richard Bean’s brilliant version of the script made for the National Theatre in 2010. Best known for One Man, Two Guv’nors (a Goldoni re-imagining) and now for Great Britain , his satire on the phone-hacking scandal, Bean has adapted it for

21st-century tastes and added a few of his own jokes.

Like Boucicault, he was indebted to his cast, including

Simon Russell Beale, Fiona Shaw and Richard Briers, for some added fun. However, checking against the original, we have several times been surprised when a quip that “must be Richard Bean” turned out to be 175 years old!

Here’s the chance to meet the elegant but aging dandy Sir

Harcourt Courtly; the hearty, horsy, high-spirited Lady Gay

Spanker; practical heiress Grace; ingratiating lawyer

Meddle – and Cool, that imperturbable valet, equal to any occasion ... as he needs to be!

Forgotten London Assurance may have been – but our talented cast promises you a spectacular and unforgettable evening’s entertainment. Quite simply: unmissable!

Janet Tachauer

My Boy Jack

Opens Friday 7 November

Have you news of my boy

Jack?

Not this tide.

When d’you think he’ll come back?

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

The First World War has been an interest of mine for nearly 50 years ever since seeing the landmark BBC series The Great War in the

1960s. I have studied and taught it and remain haunted by it. Many of the plays I have directed have been set in the years leading up to 1914, and yet I still find new perspectives confounding previously-held beliefs. Reading and seeing the rash of new publications and programmes in this centenary year, I find the changes in opinion based on new information fascinating. What remains constant is the sense of loss, of a deep chasm which separates what

Sir Max Hastings describes as “the last fatal flourishes of the old crowned and cockaded Europe followed by the birth of a terrible new world in arms.”

When looking for a suitable play to mark this centenary,

My Boy Jack stood out as having local interest, being based on a true story, and being about the impact of the Great War on individuals.

Continued overleaf

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StageWrite the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

Continued from previous page

Kipling was a man of strong right-wing opinions, an active supporter of Ulster Unionism and enthusiastic imperialist.

Little wonder that we think of him as an anachronistic figure. He had written Recessional , The Jungle Book , Puck of Pooks Hill and If . He loved his Sussex home at Burwash, and his family, was generous in spirit and action and was a great poet. After the deaths of his eldest daughter Jo in

1899 at the age of six and his son John (Jack) in 1915 at the age of 18, he was burdened by very understandable melancholy. He paid for a bugler to sound the Last Post every evening at the Menin Gate in Ypres in memory of

John, a custom that continues to this day. Certainly he did suffer the guilt of encouraging his son to join up. Little wonder that he later wrote:

If any question why we died,

Tell them because our fathers lied.

We are fortunate to be working in co-operation with the

National Trust at Bateman’s and we will be taking cast photographs there. At the start of four years commemorating the Great War this is an intimate play set against a huge backcloth. My aim is have it stand as a fitting memorial to a lost generation and their families.

Chris Lacey

The Railway Children

Opens Friday 12 December

For many of us our first impression of The Railway Children was formed by the image of Jenny Agutter waving her petticoats at a train, in the film that painted a somewhat rose-tinted picture of rural Edwardian England. So it would be easy to assume Edith Nesbit to be a writer of sentimental children’s literature – but the truth is very different.

Nesbit didn’t turn to children’s literature until her 40s. Prior to this she had lived a bohemian lifestyle, travelling extensively in her youth; becoming a mother at the age of

20; co-founding the Fabian Society; writing prolifically and passionately on socialism and political issues and mixing with such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and H.G.

Wells. Nesbit’s life was an adventure and this influenced her writing. The Railway Children introduces us to a world of eccentric characters, foreign spies and Russian dissidents.

Nesbit’s writing for children has an assuredness and a rich humour, combining contemporary family life with fantastical, fairytale adventures which inspired later writers such as

C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling.

The fairytale magic in The Railway Children is found in the railway itself and the steam trains that roar like dragons and carry mysterious characters, bringing adventure into the lives of the three main characters.

Since its publication in 1906, The Railway Children has remained a favourite with young people and has become a classic. There have been numerous radio and television adaptations and, of course, the unforgettable Lionel Jeffries film. This theatre adaptation by Mike Kenny was originally staged at the National Railway Museum in York and then at

Waterloo Station in London.

Any adaptation, from page to stage, presents great challenges for directors, not least of which for us is the absence of a sixty ton steam locomotive which the original productions enjoyed. However, central to all the best adaptations is the power of imagination, combined with the irresistible magic of theatre – lighting, sound and visual effects which can bring the magical fairytale railway alive in the minds of our audience.

Already fans of the story, we approached Mike Kenny’s adaptation with a critical eye. We were rewarded with a script that is true to Nesbit’s intentions. It is well-paced, vibrant and funny; full of adventure and drama, offering endless possibilities for staging, and consistently engaging the audience with a driving narrative. And while the script remains faithful to the story, this is a production which will constantly surprise and entertain, performed by a cast of the highest calibre.

Join us for a very special Christmas show which will be traditional in style but with a modern interpretation that has imaginative storytelling at its heart.

Niall Whitehead and Barbara Ward

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StageWrite

American exchange 2014-2015

the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

The Stables Theatre’s cultural exchange hosted by the

Drama Group of Chicago Heights

In June, a group of actors and techies from the Stables took

Taking Steps by Alan Ayckbourn to our sister group in

Chicago Heights, USA. This was part of the ongoing cultural exchange that has so far lasted 15 years.

Our reception by the “DG” was mind-blowing. Not only were the performances received with rapturous laughter and applause, the efforts of our hosts were exceptional. Each one of our party of nine had a host who put us up at no cost, and who ran us back and forth to the theatre, the bars and restaurants in the evenings, and to the railway station so we could get into Chicago as often as we wished – which was pretty much every day! Special events, visits and picnics were organised, and we were made to feel very special. Their hospitality was unbelievable, and humbling in its generosity.

In late June next year (2015), the Drama Group is coming to

Hastings. I am sure we can reciprocate with hospitality as open and generous as theirs. If you feel you can help, please get in touch.

Contact Ian Morson, Mike Willard or Tim Pearce through the box office or at www.stablestheatre.co.uk.

Ian Morson

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Stables Art Gallery the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

Until September 27

Postcards: photographic images by Mike Leale and John Shanks

Some new and some old: Postcards is a series of images from a variety of places and settings specially brought together for this show. The work embraces key interests of these two long-established artists, offering a unique blend and insight into some far and not so faraway locations.

Monday 29 September to

Saturday 29 November 2014

Maureen Connett and

Heather Hookey

Well-established local artists Maureen

Connett and Heather Hookey will be putting together an exciting exhibition of works specially selected for the Stables Gallery this autumn.

Monday 1 December to

Monday 22 December 2014

SoCo at the Stables:

Unwrapped

Paintings, prints, textiles and sculptural works by local and international artists.

SoCo is an evolving group of professional artists, based in East Sussex which presents a challenging programme of exhibitions, public arts, events and talks in an eclectic range of venues, taking their work to a wide and varied audience. Delighted to be exhibiting at the Stables, SoCo present new and surprising works in celebration of the winter season. Find out more about us at http://www.soco.org.uk

See box office opening hours on page 2. Admission free. Exhibits are usually for sale.

September/October 2014 Box office 01424 423221 Book online at www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Friday 19 to Saturday 27 September at 7.30pm

Sunday 21 September at 3pm* · No performance Monday

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50

Collaboration

by Ronald Harwood

Collaboration , is a richly absorbing and dramatic tale about the German composer, Richard Strauss, and the

Austrian writer and poet, Stefan Zweig.

The events in Collaboration take place between 1931 and 1948, and tell the true story of the ill-fated artistic partnership and friendship between the two. Set against the rising power of the

Third Reich, and the looming threat over the lives of Jewish people, how can Strauss and Zweig keep separate their artistic principles and passions from the devastating politics that envelop them? After all, Zweig is a Jew, and Strauss is the toast of the Nazi establishment.

The brilliant way in which Harwood conveys the contrasting and dramatic emotions of these two passionate men their families, creates a highly thoughtprovoking production, which we are sure yo u will enjoy.

A Stables Theatre production directed by Andrew Bruce

*On Sunday 21 September, prior to the matinee, there will be an appreciation event at 1.30pm to celebrate Strauss and Zweig.

FIRST NIGHT

& SUNDAY

£2 OFF

ALL TICKETS

Friday 3 October at 7.30pm

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50

Dyad Productions presents

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Female Gothic

Dyad Productions ( Austen’s Women , I, Elizabeth ) return to the Stables with this chilling one-woman masterpiece. In the unquiet darkness between life and death, a haunted woman tells tales of the macabre and terrifying: eerie stories that have gathered dust and been forgotten. Until now.

In the thrilling tradition of M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe, this literary spine-chiller celebrates three lost gothic works from the great Victorian female writers. Adapted and performed by Rebecca Vaughan, the show is directed by

Olivier Award winner, Guy Masterson ( Morecambe ).

★★★★★ “A macabre masterpiece. Ghostly, grisly and gorgeous. Don’t miss it.”

Three Weeks

★★★★★ “‘Holds the audience in the palm of its hand ... a near perfect piece of theatre.”

The Scotsman

October 2014 Box office 01424 423221 Book online at www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Thursday 16 to Saturday 25 October at 7.30pm

Sunday 19 October at 3pm · No performance Saturday 18 or Monday 20

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50 · £2 off first-night and Sunday tickets

London Assurance

Dion Boucicault’s dazzling classic comedy adapted by Richard ( One Man,Two Guv’nors ) Bean

Sir Harcourt Courtly, that fashionable man-about-town of a certain age, is off to the country to marry a lovely young heiress. His son Charles is

Gloucestershire-bound too, fleeing his debts, though his father doesn’t know; while the adventurer Dazzle is, as usual, on the lookout for a soft billet wherever he can find one.

How will they fare? Will their sophisticated “London Assurance” survive in the country? Will etiquette be found sufficient? Will true love triumph?

The practical commonsense, wit and humour of the folk they meet provide the answers – and a lot of fun – as they deal with these knotty problems.

Thrills and spills, misunderstandings, disguises, and mistaken identities abound in Dion Boucicault’s 1841 smash-hit farce-with-a-heart. Our version is by Richard Bean, who throws in some jokes of his own in this brilliant adaptation for you, today’s audience.

Don’t miss this sparkling high-spirited comedy; we promise a feast of exhilarating entertainment!

Suitable for age 8+

A Stables Theatre Production directed by Janet Tachauer

FIRST NIGHT

& SUNDAY

£2 OFF

ALL TICKETS

NEW MEMBERS’ EVENING

Monday 20 October at 7pm

MEET IN THE FIRST FLOOR BAR

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November 2014 Box office 01424 423221 Book online at www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Friday 7 to Saturday 15 November at 7.30pm

Sunday 9 September at 3pm · No performance Monday

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50

FIRST NIGHT

& SUNDAY

£2 OFF

ALL TICKETS

My Boy Jack

By David Haig. With the cooperation of the National Trust, Bateman’s, to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One.

My Boy Jack is based on the moving, true story of

Rudyard Kipling and his son John (“Jack”), and is about the impact of the conflict on one family.

In 1913, when the play opens, Kipling was the most famous writer in the world, the Poet Laureate of the

Empire, living at his beautiful Sussex home, Bateman’s near Burwash in East Sussex.

War with Germany is imminent, and Rudyard Kipling, actively promoting recruitment to the army, is determined to send his son to war – despite Jack’s partial blindness.

Jack himself is keen to enlist – but not because of his father’s patriotism. A family conflict is triggered and

Kipling is torn between his love for his children and his devotion to king and country.

Rudyard Kipling is played by Bill Allender, Jack by James

Slacke, Carrie Kipling by Sarah Evans and Elsie Kipling by

Mae Jackson. Other cast members include Nick Carn and

Martin Miles.

A Stables Theatre production directed by Christopher Lacey

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November 2014 Box office 01424 423221 Book online at www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Friday 21 and Saturday 22 November at 7.30pm

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50

Clair/Obscur present

The Turn of the Screw

based on the novel by Henry James, devised and written by Deborah Clair and Nicholas Collett

Autumn 1897. Guests gather around a drawing room fireplace and each tale told is more chilling than the last. A manuscript in faded ink is taken from a locked drawer, written by a woman dead for 20 years. She was a governess who took a position on a remote country estate to care for two young children. After a while, she is convinced they share the house with ghosts from the past. Are these horrors real or imagined? What could they want with the children?

As the guests begin to act out the story, the atmosphere turns cold and the house begins to echo with discordant voices ...

With Liz Bagley, Deborah Clair and Nicholas Collett.

Original Music by Julia Vohralik.

Sunday 23 November at 3pm

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50

Commemorating the centenary of the Endurance expedition

Ernest Shackleton

An illustrated talk by Michael Smith

Michael Smith’s new biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton is published this month (November). Shackleton was a charismatic figure who lived life “like a mighty rushing wind”. He became a legend on four epic voyages of discovery to the Antarctic, marching to within 100 miles of the South Pole in 1909 and leading the battle for survival when his ship, Endurance , was crushed by the ice.

Two years ago a full Stables house was spellbound by Michael

Smith’s presentation on Tom Crean, veteran of Scott’s expeditions.

Now he returns with this story of a flawed man who touched greatness but struggled with life at home.

Michael, an authority on Polar exploration, is an author who has appeared on TV and radio and lectured at Buckingham Palace, the

Royal Geographical Society and Scott Polar Research Institute. His talk is fully illustrated and includes a Q&A session and book-signing.

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November 2014 Box office 01424 423221 Book online at www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Wednesday 26 November at 7pm

Tickets £17.50 to include finger buffet

The Rotary Club of Senlac presents

A Medieval Christmas

Featuring “Blast from the Past”

Funds raised by this event will be divided equally between the local RNLI, Bexhill Macmillan Nurses support group and the Senlac Rotary Club’s charity fund.

“Blast from the Past” delve back in time to bring you a fun evening of longforgotten festive songs together with surprisingly familiar carols played on the splendidly exotic cittern, bagpipes and shawm.

Christmas in the middle ages was very different from the celebration we know today – yet many “yuletide” customs, such as carol singing and kissing under the mistletoe, stem from this period. A Medieval Christmas explores the origins of some of these practices and sheds light on some rather less-pleasant customs such as the festive game of “Smoking of the Fool” and the annual “Beating of the Children”!

The evening also features a delicious finger buffet, the medieval music of the “Queen’s Consort” quartet and a grand raffle during the interval.

Dress code: period costume optional!

Thursday 27 November at 8pm

Tickets £14 in advance, £15 on the door

Peter Knight’s

Gigspanner

Peter Knight’s Gigspanner has been hailed by Songlines magazine as “another milestone in folk’s rebirth of cool”.

A bedrock of British traditional music is to be expected from

Steeleye Span’s legendary fiddle player, but Gigspanner’s musical reach also flirts with Eastern European, French,

Cajun, African and even Aboriginal influences, transporting audiences on a “blistering pace of a musical world tour”

( Folkcast ), prompting Sir Terry Pratchett to write “Peter

Knight can spin the world on his bow.”

Peter has accrued a lifetime’s worth of accolades across a career spanning two folk revivals. Martin Carthy named

Peter as one of his “great teachers” during his acceptance speech (Lifetime Achievement Award) at the recent BBC

Folk Awards.

Within Gigspanner, Peter’s musicianship is further enhanced by the flawless playing of Roger Flack on guitar and Vincent

Salzfaas on congas and djembe.

“The trio co-create a depth of multi-textured melody that belies the pared-down instrumental line-up. Exceptional stuff, and not to be missed.”

Noel Harvey, Acoustic Magazine

“Peter Knight has put together a tight trio with which to let his playing fly ... Gigspanner produce music of intelligently crafted brilliance.”

Andy Letcher, Songlines Magazine

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December 2014 Box office 01424 423221 Book online at www.stablestheatre.co.uk

Friday 12 to Tuesday 23 December. See diary (opposite) for full details.

Adults £12.50 · Members, under-18s and groups £7.50

FIRST NIGHT

£2

OFF

ALL TICKETS

E. Nesbit’s

The Railway Children adapted for the stage by Mike Kenny

“A train’s coming. A train’s coming.

It’s like a great dragon tearing by.”

Eternally magical and moving, this classic tale follows the fortunes of three Edwardian children – Bobbie,

Peter and Phyllis – who are forced into an impoverished life in rural north

England and so begin an adventure which will change their lives forever.

Featuring vibrant storytelling, unforgettable characters, exhilarating drama and rich comedy this unique production explores the joy and mystery of childhood with breathless pace and imaginative flair.

The Railway Children is a theatrical delight. The story has been a favourite with generations of children and this enchanting, faithful adaptation perfectly captures the tenderness and humour of the original story and will appeal to adults and young people alike.

A perfect Christmas show.

“This glorious adaptation never for a moment runs out of steam.” Guardian

A Stables Theatre production directed by Niall Whitehead and Barbara Ward

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Diary page: what’s on at a glance

the Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

September

Wed 3 7.30 Youth Theatre: Beware My Sting

Thu 4 7.30 Youth Theatre: Beware My Sting

Fri 5 7.30 Youth Theatre: Beware My Sting

Sat 6 7.30 Youth Theatre: Beware My Sting

Fri 12 7.30 Quiz night

Fri 19 7.30 Collaboration

Sat 20 7.30 Collaboration

Sun 21 1.30 Appreciation of Strauss and Zweig

Sun 21 3.00 Collaboration

Tue 23 7.30 Collaboration

Wed 24 7.30 Collaboration

Thu 25 7.30 Collaboration

Fri 26 7.30 Collaboration

Sat 27 11.00 Development plan consultation

Sat 27 7.30 Collaboration

October

Fri 3 7.30 Rebecca Vaughan: Female Gothic

Thu 16 7.30 London Assurance

Fri 17 7.30 London Assurance

Sun 19 3.00 London Assurance

Mon 20 7.00 New members’ evening

Tue 21 7.30 London Assurance

Wed 22 7.30 London Assurance

Thu 23 7.30 London Assurance

Fri 24 7.30 London Assurance

Sat 25 7.30 London Assurance

The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre

The Bourne, Hastings TN34 3BD

Tel 01424 423221 www.stablestheatre.co.uk

November

Fri 7 7.30 My Boy Jack

Sat 8 7.30 My Boy Jack

Sun 9 3.00 My Boy Jack

Tue 11 7.30 My Boy Jack

Wed 12 7.30 My Boy Jack

Thu 13 7.30 My Boy Jack

Fri 14 7.30 My Boy Jack

Sat 15 7.30 My Boy Jack

Fri 21 7.30 The Turn of the Screw

Sat 22 7.30 The Turn of the Screw

Sun 23 3.00 Shackleton: illustrated talk

Wed 26 7.00 A Medieval Christmas

Thu 27 8.00 Peter Knight’s Gigspanner

December

Fri 12 7.30 The Railway Children

Sat 13 7.30 The Railway Children

Sun 14 3.00 The Railway Children

Tue 16 7.30 The Railway Children

Wed 17 7.30 The Railway Children

Thu 18 7.30 The Railway Children

Fri 19 7.30 The Railway Children

Sat 20 3.00 The Railway Children

Sat 20 7.30 The Railway Children

Sun 21 3.00 The Railway Children

Mon 22 7.30 The Railway Children

Tue 23 7.30 The Railway Children

15

Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year from everyone at the Stables.

We look forward to welcoming you back in February 2015.

the

Stables

Theatre and Arts Centre

Information contained in this publication believed to be correct at time of going to press but may be subject to change.

Designed by www.cliffbrooker.com · 07801 298284

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